Fluid-powered toothbrush



NOV- 2, 1965 l. l. MuRov ETAL 3,214,775

FLUID-POWERED TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 24, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 11e .7., 111 FIQ "M Q 175 FIQ INVENTORS; ISAAC l. MUROV MORTON J. SCHLOSS FRANCIS V. PANNO N0 2, 1965 1.1. MuRov ETAE. 3,214,775

FLUID-POWERED TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 24, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ISAAC l. MUROV MORTON J. SCHLOSS FRANCIS v PANNO INVENTORS.

4 si BY vg@ AGENI NOV- 2, 1965 x. 1. MURov ETAL 3,214,775

FLUID-POWERED TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 24, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ISAAC l. MUROV MORTON J. SCHLOSS FRANCIS V. PANNO INVENTORS.

AGENT Unted States Patent 3,214,775 FLUlD-POWERED TGG'EHBRUSH Isaac I. Murov, R0. Box 104, Mohegan Lake, NX., and Morton I. Schloss, 207 Frank Ave., and Francis V. Panno, both of Mamaroneck, NX.

Filed May 24, 1963, Ser. No. 282,979 5 Claims. (Ci. 15-22) Our present invention relates to toothbrushes having movable bristles and, more particularly, to fluid-powered toothbrushes, gum massagers and irrigators for dental hygiene and oral treatment in general.

Recently, it has been found that toothbrushes and the like having movable bristles greatly improve the removal of foreign particles from between the teeth and provide the necessary gum massage for healthy teeth. It has been proposed, therefore, to provide toothbrushes with electrically powered bristles which either contain their own power source (Le. batteries) or are connected to line current. On the one hand, these devices are awkward since they must be made massive enough to contain an electric motor and, in some cases, the power source, while, on the other hand, units connected to an electric l'me may prove to be dangerous upon fracture against a sanitary iixture and/ or immersion in water. Frequently, it is desirable to provide a more or less continuous stream of cleansing liquid to irrigate the mouth concurrently with operation of the bristles to remove particles of foreign matter from between the teeth. Such irrigation is not generally possible with electrically operated toothbrushes of the type disclosed above and would require substantial modication thereof if electric shock was to be avoided.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved toothbrush wherein the electrical drive means for the bristles of earlier devices can be avoided.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush wherein a mechanical movement can be imparted to the bristles concurrently with an irrigation of the oral cavity.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a toothbrush of this character particularly adapted for eilicient gum massage and irrigation together with or in place of a cleansing of the teeth.

The above objects and others which will become ap- L parent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with our invention, by providing a duid-powered toothbrush which comprises handle means and brush means movably mounted on the handle means, the latter containing a duid-operable source of motive power coupled with the bristle means. The handle is, therefore, provided with a conduit for connection to the spigot of a faucet (eg. that of a conventional sanitary Xture) for enabling the establishment of a fluid-pressure diiferential across this source of motive power.

The handle is, advantageously, also provided with a return tube, which may, if desired, be inserted in the drain of the sanitary fixture for returning thereto, as a waste liquid, all or a portion of the driving liquid while any remainder is directed into the oral cavity as an irrigant and iiushing liquid.

According to another feature of the instant invention, the handle means is provided with a chamber along the path of the motive liquid for receiving a water-entrainable detergent, dentifrice or disinfectant agent for facilitating the cleaning of the teeth and/or destroying undesirable bacteria in the oral cavity. Advantageously, valve means may be provided on the handle for shunting liquid away from the detergent chamber when introduction of the cleaning agent into the mouth is not desired. This valve means, or another suitably provided, can also serve, according to the invention, to regulate the ow of liquid to SZMJTS Patented Nov. 2, 1965 ICC the drive means. It is thus possible to dispose the additive chamber rearwardly of the drive means in the path of the water through the handle and to position a by-pass valve rearwardly of the drive means and/or this chamber for shunting the Water to the return tube prior to contact of the liquid with the additive. The valve thus serves as a control means regulating the passage of the liquid through the drive means. The latter advantageously comprises a vaned Wheel rotatably journaled in the housing and directly provided with the brush bristles for displacing same or coupled with the brush means via a suitable transmission in order to effect translation and/or rotation of the bristles. The brush means is preferably removably mounted on the housing so that it can be interchangeable with a massaging or irrigating device and with other brushes for sanitary operation. The massaging device can include one or more rubber tips which, like the bristles, are displaced by the drive means.

According to another speciiic feature of the invention the drive means includes a reciprocable rod upon which the brush bristles can be mounted for displacement longitudinally of the housing means or in a transverse direction. The rod can thus be connected to the rotary, waterdriven Wheel by an eccentric or crank. It is also possible to provide this rod with a pivot so that a combined translation and rotation is imparted to the brush.

Still another feature of this invention resides in the provision of valve means for selectively controlling the flow of liquid into the oral cavity in addition to eecting introduction of a detergent and control of movement of the bristles.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made t0 the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view with parts broken away t0 show a toothbrush, according to the invention, in its operative condition;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the toothbrush with its linearly reciprocating bristle head;

FIG. 3 is a top view of this toothbrush with parts broken away;

FIG. 4 is a detail cross-sectional view taken generally along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the valve of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a side view, partly broken away, showing a massaging head adapted to be substituted for a brush head of the device;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 6 showing an irrigator attachment for the tooth brush;

FIG. 8 is a View similar to lFlG. 2 showing a brush with rotary bristles in accordance with a modification of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a side-elevational view of a massaging device adapted to be substituted for the brush of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a detail View of the valve of the toothbrush of FIG. 8;

vFIG. 11 is a longitudinal cross-sectional View through yet another toothbrush according to our invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XII-XII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic longitudinal cross-sectional View of the reciprocating mechanism for the ybrush head of another toothbrush according to the invention;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional View taken along the line XIV-XIV of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic View of the operating mechanism of still another toothbrush according to a further modication.

FIG. 1 shows a toothbrush 10 whose handle portion 11 carries a reciprocable brush head 12 and is provided with inlet-conduit means 13 and an outlet tube 14. For convenience the outlet tube 14 may be aiiixed to conduit means 13 over substantially its entire length and may have a terminal portion 14 which can be inserted into the drain 15 of a wash basin 16. `Conduit 13 is provided with sleeve 17 of resiliently expandable material adapted to slip over the spigot 18 of the fixture faucet 19. It should be noted that other conventional means for attaching the conduit 13 to the faucet may be provided. In some instances it may be desirable that the spigot 13 has a removable adapter over which the conduit 13 is urged to provide this tube with a strap clamp for affixing it to the conduit. A similar conduit means and return tube will, of course, be provided for each of the devices to be described in detail hereinafter. It should be noted that a pressure vbooster 20 (indicated in dot-dash lines) can .be provided on the inlet conduit 13 to increase the pressure supplied to the toothbrush if the supply pressure is insufficient to operate the brush. Such a booster makes use of the kinetic energy of a relatively large volume of water to increase the potential energy of a similar volume (eg. by means of a rotor, driven by the large-volume/low-pressure iiow of water, coupled with an impeller for displacing a low-volume/high-pressure stream). Moreover, the adapter provided on the spigot 18 may include a Venturi aspirator 21 to increase the pressure differential across the fluid-operated drive source. The aspirator, known per se, may also provide the entire flow of operating fluid.

In FIGS. 2-5 we show a toothbrush of the general type illustrated in FIG. 1 and having a reciprocating head. This brush 100 comprises a handle portion 111i) which forms a housing for the rotor 111 of the drive means. Rotor 111 is journaled on a shaft 112 received in a wall of the housing 110 and carries an eccentric pin 113 which projects into a slot 114 in the enlarged extremity 115 of a reciprocating rod 116. This extremity 115 has longitudinal sides 117 extending parallel to respective longitudinal walls 118 of housing 110 and the longitudinal axis thereof and is linearly guided therealong by a plurality of ball bearings 119 received in this extremity 115 of the rod 116.

The handle 110 is provided with an inlet fitting 120 over which is forced the inlet conduit 130 whose other end communicates with the spigot of the sanitary fixture as previously noted. The handle is also provided with an inlet bore 121 registered with the conduit 130 and interrupted by a chamber 122 in the housing 110 adapted to receive a dentifrice, detergent, disinfectant, medicament or the like. As indicated in FIG. 2, this additive may be in the form of a slow-dissolving tablet 123 although powders or granules may be used as desired. The chamber 122 is provided with screened openings 124, 125 t0 prevent entrance to the tube 135 of excessive quantities of solid material while permitting the ow of water therethrough to entrain, by dissolution, the detergent. The screens should, however, be dimensioned to pass abrasive particles normally associated with dentifrices without permitting passage of agglomerates of such particles. The detergent chamber 122 communicates with the rotor charnber 126 for directing a stream of water against the blades 127 of the rotor 111.

The shank portion 128 of reciprocating rod 116 is formed internally with a thread designed to receive the threaded extremity 129 of a suitably removable appliance. As indicated in FIG. 2, this appliance may comprise a -brush 131 formed with tufts 132 of the usual bristles and apertures 133 for a stream of irrigation water for flushing the oral cavity and carrying the dentifrice thereto. These apertures 133 are supplied by a bore 134 in the brush head 131 which, in turn, communicates with a passage 135 extending longitudinally along rod 116. Passage 135 opens into the rotor chamber at 136 so that the motive liquid, after passing the rotor 111, can enter the passage 135 and serve to irrigate the oral cavity. The rotor chamber 126 also communicates with an outlet bore 137 which supplies the return tube 140. A plungertype valve 138 is also provided in the handle 110 to shunt liquid from the inlet tube to the outlet tube 144) without passing through the detergent chamber 122 or the rotor chamber 126 when the brush is not to be reciprocated and irrigation of the mouth is not desired. To this end the valve 138 consists of a plate extending transversely to the direction of liquid flow and can be shifted as indicated `by arrow 139. The plate is formed with an aperture 141 adapted to register With bore 121 in the operative condition of the valve and the toothbrush as well as with a flange 142 normally blocking an opening 143 communicating between the inlet and outlet bores 121, 137. When the valve 138 is pressed inwardly, opening 143 is uncovered while passage 121 is blocked to divert the ow of fluid from inlet 131) to outlet 140. Sealing means 144 is provided along the shank portion of rod 116 to prevent the escape of liquid therearound. The handle can be provided with a plurality of such brushes, each of which is assigned to one member of the household, for hygienic purposes. A conventional air gap can be provided, if desired, in either the inlet or outlet tube to conform to sanitary laws.

When the device is to be used as a mechanically reciprocated toothbrush, the user positions the inlet tube 130 with its adapter on the faucet and turns on the water while maintaining the valve 138 in its depressed condition. Sleeve `1415, threadedly surrounding the handle 110, is then rotated to expose the lateral opening 146 through which a -tablet of detergent 123 can be inserted by the user into chamber 122. The opening is then closed by reverse rotation of the sleeve. Valve 13S is then shifted into its operative position, whereupon water iiows through the detergent chamber 122 to entrain the dentifrice therein and drive the rotor 111 to reciprocate the brush. Concurrently a stream of liquid carrying the detergent passes into the oral cavity through the apertures 133. When it is desired to brush the teeth without irrigation or vibration of the brush head 131, valve 138 is again depressed to cut off the iiow of liquid to the .detergent and rotor chambers.

If a massaging action with irrigation is required, the massaging head 147 of FIG. 6 is threaded into the reciprocated rod 116 in place of brush head 131. The massaging head is formed with apertures 14.18 to admit a stream of liquid, with or without medicament or dentifrice, to the `oral cavity and is provided with rubber tips 149 which effect the massaging action.

Similarly, if only irrigation is required, the irrigator 150 -of FIG. 7 is employed. The irrigator will, in this case, be oscillated although means may be provided for locking it in position if a stationary head is a necessity.

The embodiment of FIGS. 8-10 is similar in some respects to that of FIGS. 2-7 in that the handle portion 210 of the brush is provided with a rotatable sleeve 245 through which the interior `of the detergent chamber 222 can be exposed for inserting a tablet into the latter. The handle is also provided with an inlet bore 221, communicating with the conduit 230, and :an outlet bore 237 which supplies iiuid to the return tube 240. In the present embodiment, however, the pressure-type valve is replaced by a screw-type valve 238 which is provided with a recess 242 for by-passing iiuid from the inlet bore 221 to the outlet passage 237 in a close condition of the valve. The reciprocating rod characterizing the embodiment of FIG. 2 is dispensed with in the structure of FIG. 8; a brush head 231 has its threaded end 229 received directly in the handle 210. The fluid thus flows from the detergent chamber 222 through a passage `236 into the bore 235 of the brush head whereupon it drives the brushes 232 secured to respective rotors 211', 211, whose pivots are journaled in ythe head 231. The water is directed tangentially against the rotors 211', 211 whose vanes or ribs can be similar to the ribs 127 previously described. After driving these rotors, the fluid passes into the oral cavity through the openings in which the brushes are recessed. If desired, a return `tube similar to tube 137 (FIG. 2) can be provided in this embodiment for carrying excess liquid to tube 240 as previously described. The brushes 232 are held in place by slidable plates 211 and can be removed by withdrawing these plates to permit substitution of the massaging tip 249 of FIG. 9. This tip also has a rotor 249 associated therewith. When valve 23S (FIG. 10) is opened, liquid 4iiows through the detergent chamber 222 and drives the rotors 211', 211.or 249' to rotate either the brushes 232 or the massaging tube 249 while irrigating the mouth.

In FIGS. l1 and 12 there is shown a toothbrush Whose brush head 331 carries the usual bristles 332 and is provided with apertures 333 through which liquid can pass into the oral cavity via a passage 335 in a reciprocating rod 316. The rod of this embodiment is, however, provided with a slot 352 in which a pin 353 of the handle portion 31() is slidably received. As will be apparent from FIG. 12, the interior of the handle portion 310 is subdivided by a partition 354 into upper and lower chambers. The lower chamber 322 is provided with an opening 346 through which an additive tablet can be inserted when sleeve 345 is rotated to align its window 345 with opening 346, A pair of apertures 355 serve to admit fluid from the detergent chamber 322 into an upper compartment 356 from whence the detergent-carrying liquid enters bore 335 via openings 357. The usual iiexible seals 344 are provided along the rod 316 while a exible diaphragm 358 serves to prevent liquid in the rotor chamber from entering this upper compartment. In the rotor compartment 326, below partition 354, water from inlet 33) passes around the rotor 311 which is journaled fon a pin 312 to the housing 310 and rotates it. An eccentric pin 313 connects the rotor 311 with the reciprocating rod 316. Return flow from the rotor chamber passes through an outlet bore 337 to tube 340. A three-position valve is provided in the handle of the brush to control the tiow of liquid.

The tubular valve 338 which can be displaced by a rotatable actuating disk 338' coupled therewith by a link 338" is provided with an inlet lopening 341 which registers with the 4narrow bore communicating with tube 330. With the valve in the position shown in FIG. 1l, water tlows through the inlet passage from tube 330 into the valve 338 and thence out, via an opening 341' therein, to the return tube 340. When actuating disk 338 is displaced in a coun-terclockwise manner by a fractional rotation, as defined by an indexing spring of the conventional type and not shown herein, the valve 338 is shifted so that opening 341 supplies some fluid to a channel 359 which supplies the detergent chamber 322 and then admits the detergent-containing liquid to the brush head 331. A further displacement of the disk 338' in counterclockwise direction aligns opening 341" with the inlet passage so that iiuid from tube 330 is supplied to the rotor 311 to oscillate the brush head. The motion of the brush head will be a combination of a longitudinal movement as indicated by arrow 360 and transverse movement as indicated by arrow 361. The brush head 331 may, of course, be interchangeable with massaging and irrigating heads as previously described.

The handle 410 of brush 41N) (FIGS. 13 and 14) is provided with a slot 460e through which the rod 416, carrying the brush head 431 with the usual irrigating apertures and passage, slidably passes. The rod 416, however, is not linearly guided as indicated in FIG. 2 but is formed with a twist about the longitudinal axis of the handle 410. In addition, the rotor 411 is connected eccentrically to the rod via a pin-and-slot joint 413 so that rotation of the rotor, as previously described, effects a simultaneous longitudinal displacement of the brush (arrow 460) and angular displacement (arrow 461) about the longitudinal axis to sweep food particles downwardly from crevices between the teeth, the slot of the joint permitting swiveling action of the rod 416.

A similar angular displacement about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the brush results from the device of FIG. 15. In this case, the toothbrush handle 510 has the rotor 511 journaled for rotation about the brush axis and supplied by passage 521, while passage 537 conducts iiuid not employed as an irriga-nt away. The rotor 511 is coupled via a link 511:1 with the rotatable brush rod 516, which can be similar to ythe brush rod 416, to angularly reciprocate it about an axis parallel to -that of the brush (arrow 461).

The invention described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modiiications being considered within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A duid-powered toothbrush comprising handle means; brush means movably mounted on said handle means and including an elongated shank extending therefrom and longitudinally and transversely displaceable thereon While being provided with a brush remote from said handle means; huid-operable drive means in said handle means operatively coupled with said brush means for displacing same upon establishment of a iiuid-pressure diiierential across said drive means, said drive mea-ns including a rotor in said handle means, and transmission means coupling said shank with said rotor for displacing said shank with a longitudinal and a transverse component of movement to impart an oscillating movement to said brush; conduit means for connecting said handle means with a source of liquid for establishing a pressure `differential across said rotor, said shank being provided with an outlet for an irrigation liquid and with a passage communicating between said outlet and said handle means for conducting at least a portion of the fluid employed to operate said rotor to said outlet; and valve means in said handle for regulating the i'low of liquid to said drive means and through said passage.

2. A Huid-powered tooth brush as defined in claim 1 wherein said handle means is provided with a compartment along the path of iiuid fed to said passage for retaining an additive entrainable by the irrigating liquid, said handle means haw'ng an opening communicating with said compartment for replacement of said additive therethrough, and closure means for normally closing said opening.

3. A fluid-powered toothbrush comprising handle means; brush means movably mounted on said handle means and including an elongated shank extending therefrom and longitudinally and transversely displaceable thereon While being provided with a brush remote from said handle means; duid-operable drive means in said handle means operatively coupled with said brush means for displacing same upon establishment of a Huid-pressure diierential across said drive means; conduit means for connecting said handle means with a source of liquid for establishing a pressure differential across said drive means, said drive means including a rotor, displaceable by said liquid under said differential; irrigating means in said handle means and said brush means for supplying a portion of said liquid to said brush means and discharging it at said brush; and transmission means operatively connecting said rotor with said shank for displacing same upon rotary displacement of said rotor.

4. A Huid-powered toothbrush as dened in claim 3, wherein said transmission means includes guide means on said handle means for imparting to said shank a component of motion generally transverse to the direction of its longitudinal reciprocation.

5. A fluid-powered toothbrush as defined in claim 4 wherein said guide means is so arranged and constructed as to impart to said brush a generally elliptical movement in the plane of said longitudinal reciprocation.

(References on following page) Referencs Cited by the Exminer UNITED STATES PATENTS Lane 15-24 Richwood.

Roland 15--24 Vandervoort 15-22.1

Ckola 15-24 Lowe et a1. 15-24 8 2,492,966 1/50 Ckola 15-24 X 3,046,585 7/62 Ledingham et al. 15-24 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,250,455 12/60 France.

598,878 10/59 Italy.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

3. A FLUID-POWERED TOOTHBRUSH COMPRISING HANDLE MEANS; BRUSH MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HANDLE MEANS AND INCLUDING AN ELONGTED SHANK EXTENDING THEREFROM AND LONGITUDINALY AND TRANSVERSELY DISPLACEABLE THEREON WHILE BEING PROVIDED WITH A BRUSH REMOTE FROM SAID HANDLE MEANS; FLUID-OPERABLE DRIVE MEANS IN SAID HANDLE MEANS OPERATIVELY COUPLED WITH SAID BRUSH MEANS FOR DISPLACING SAME UPON ESTABLISHMENT OF A FLUID-PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL ACROSS SAID DRIVE MEANS; CONDUIT MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID HANDLE MEANS WITH A SOURCE OF LIQUID FOR ESTABLISHING A PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL ACROSS SAID DRIVE MEANS, SAID DRIVE MEANS INCLUDING A ROTOR, DISPLACEABLE BY SAID LIQUID UNDER SAID DIFERENTIAL; IRRIGATING MEANS IN SAID HANDLE MEANS AND SAID BRUSH MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A PORTION OF SAID LIQUID TO SAID BRUSH MEANS AND DISCHARGING IT AT SAID BRUSH; AND TRANSMISSION MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID ROTOR WITH SAID SHANK FOR DISPLACING SAME UPON ROTARY DISPLACEMENT OF SAID ROTOR. 